Black Sheep
by Anabella G. Zhitemy
Summary: Alyxandra Black is considered the new "black sheep" of her family. She and her twin brother, Andrew, had been given over to their only relatives, Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy, when their parents were sentenced to life in Azkaban for being convicted Death Eaters. Now, years later, Alyx and Andrew go into their 3rd year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. (Set in HP Book 1)


**Chapter One**

I sat on my "bed" - really more of a cheap cot with a flimsy mattress – with my dim light on, trying not to cry. My aunt, uncle, twin brother, and cousin were upstairs, enjoying their nice luxurious things while I was stuck in the basement, barely fed, exhausted from lack of sleep. I closed my eyes and prayed for someone – anyone – to rescue me. There were three days left before our return to school and I could hardly wait.

My trunk full of books for school and other assorted necessities sat locked up by he foot of my bed, ready to go at a moments notice. My wand lay on my small, wobbly nightstand, useless as my aunt and uncle had put an enchantment on the basement that made using magic impossible. One thought kept running through my head: _School's coming. _I must be the only kid in the world excited for the school year to start because summer vacation is unbearable.

I heard the lock on the basement door click and I sat up straight, my heart pounding in my chest. That sound could only mean on thing – someone was coming downstairs, hopefully with food, but probably just to tell me there was nothing left over from dinner.

"Alyx," a voice whispered hoarsely. "Alyx, are you alive?"

I recognized the voice as my brother's and my heart sank. "Yes, Andrew. I'm alive," I said, vaguely aware of how depressed I sounded.

"Are you ready to join us? Please say yes. You being locked up down here kills me."

"If by 'ready to join you' you mean will I be taking up the family business and being an evil bastard, then no. I've told you every day since we were young that I will never join you. And if it kills you so much, you could always do something about it," I said wryly.

He sighed. "Why do you do this to yourself? If you would only stop being so stubborn..."

"Yes, because giving up my morals so I can eat is exactly what I plan to do..." My voice was thick with sarcasm.

"Fine, have it your way," he said, and he closed and locked the door again.

I fought back the tears as I laid down, my stomach growling, and pretended I was anywhere but where I was. My mind immediately went to school. I was the black sheep of my family, being somehow a good person in the midst of a bunch of moralless, arrogant jerks. I was sorted into Gryffindor rather than Slytherin like everyone else in my family. Well, almost everyone. My aunt's cousin Sirius had also been in Gryffindor, and his portrait was scorched off of the family tree in his childhood home by his own mother when he moved out at the age of 16. Three more years before I turned 16, although I still held out hope that someone would whisk me away from this hell and save me before then.

The next few days passed much in the same way. I got a feeble breakfast and some leftovers from dinner, but nothing else. I didn't care. The day had come. I was allowed upstairs the morning of September the first to take a shower – cold, of course – before we went to the train. I was only allowed that luxury so I wouldn't embarrass the rest of them while in public. Also, I suspected, to hold up the illusion that I was being cared for. A new outfit had been purchased for me, as well as my school supplies needed for my fifth year.

My cousin, Draco, was going into his first year today. I was not looking forward to having him there, but there was nothing I could do about that. I also knew I wasn't going to have that much interaction with him, being four years ahead of him.

We got to the train station and I trailed behind the rest of my "family". I waited a full thirty seconds before leading my trolley towards the wall between platforms 9 and 10, coming out to platform 9 ¾ with plenty of space between us. They didn't bother waiting, not even looking back to see if I had come. As far as they were concerned, if I wasn't going to be like them, I wasn't one of them. Fine by me.

"Ally-Cat!" I heard a familiar voice yell behind me. I smiled, suddenly relieved, and turned around to find the Weasley family coming through the platform. Leading the way was Percy, the third oldest, in his 5th year, followed closely by the twins, Fred and George. Their mother and two younger siblings (I assumed) followed closely behind them. All with flaming red hair, freckled faces, and second hand robes, there were seven siblings in all. Two of them had graduated, Percy and the twins were still in school, the next youngest was starting today, and the youngest, the only girl of the bunch, was starting next year. The whole family so far had been in Gryffindor, and they didn't expect that to change yet. I barely registered a young boy with dark hair and clothes that were way to big for him come through the platform just before the youngest Weasley boy.

Fred and George were in my year, and had been the first to accept me as a Gryffindor when I was sorted. or the first half of the year, in fact, they were the only ones who would talk to me. Eventually the rest of our house came around when they realized that just because I was was biologically a Black, didn't mean I was like any of them. Except maybe my Uncle Sirius...

I got on the train with the twins and Angelina Johnson, one of the first girls in our ear to befriend me. We found a car together and I sat down, making myself comfortable while they all hung out the window saying goodbye to their families. A moment later, Alicia Spinnet, Lee Jordan and Katie Bell came in, followed by Oliver Wood.

"Alright, you lot," Oliver started. "We've got to replace Charlie as Seeker this year, since he won't be coming back."

"Well, obviously, Ollie," Alicia said rolling her eyes. "Seeing as he graduated last year."

Oliver raised an eyebrow at her. "Yeah, that he did. So, we will be holding tryout at our first available opportunity. Unless..." He looked at me. "Are you still uninterested in playing? I mean..."

"Ollie, I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, just because my Uncle Regulas was a Seeker does not mean I am coordinated enough to do it too," I said, shaking my head.

"Oh come off it, Ally," George said. "You're more coordinated than you give yourself credit for."

"Yeah," Fred added. "You took a whole twenty-five steps today without tripping."

"And you made it onto the train alright this year." George said, straightfaced.

"Ha ha ha," I said sarcastically. "My answer is no."

"Ah, you just don't want the attention," Angelina piped up.

"How do you mean?"

"I mean, whenever you're called on in class your face goes red."

"And whenever someone compliments you..." Katie added.

"And whenever anyone looks at you..." Alicia said.

"And whenever Georgie and I do something stupid in your vicinity and people look around to see what's going on..." Fred said.

"And -" I cut off Lee from whatever it was he was about to add.

"Alright, I get the point, yeah?" My face was hot and I knew it was red. "My answer is still no."

"Fine then, now that's settled," Oliver said, moving the conversation away from me. "We'll need to hold tryouts as soon as possible."

"Yeah, Ollie, you've said that already," Katie said, sounding bored.

"Look, I just want to make sure we're going to have a full team. The Seeker position is..."

"A key position on the team," the rest of us said in unison.

"Can't end the game on our terms without one, can we Freddie?"

"No, Georgie, we certainly can't."

"We'll need someone with fast reflexes, though, won't we?" Angelina piped up.

"Can't have some slow git on there losing the race for the snitch," Katie said.

"Because, after all, the Seeker IS a key position on the team, don'tchaknow," Alicia added. Alll of them looked pointedly at Ollie while Lee and I laughed. These were things that even I've heard from Ollie a million times since the end of last year, and I wasn't even on the team.

"Alright, alright, have your laughs," Ollie said, finally lightening up. "But mark my words, if we don't get ourselves a decent Seeker -"

We all threw our coats at him, staggering the attack to make it last longer so we could get at least a minute of peace from the madness. Then we collapsed into a heap of laughing bodies.

A few minutes later, we had all settled down and made ourselves comfortable. I was between Fred and George, leaning against Fred with my legs across George's lap. Fred had an arm around me and George's hands rested on my legs. Angelina, Lee, and Katie were on the other bench, the girls sitting with their backs against either end, feet on Lee's lap as he was sitting directly between them. It wasn't long before I felt my eyes start to droop. I had waited all summer for this moment. It happened every year – I was finally comfortable enough to sleep. I slid down and laid on my side, my head now on Fred's lap, my legs across George still. As Fred played with my hair, George draped an arm down my side and laced his fingers with mine. I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

I woke up hours later in the same position feeling refreshed and energized for the first time in months.

"Morning sunshine," Angelina said with a smile. "Feel better?"

I nodded as I sat up.

"Well," Lee said. "You're just in time for us to get changed into our robes." He stood up, nodding to the twins, who stood as well. "We'll be back in a bit."

"Try not to have too much fun without us," Georgie said.

I laughed. "We'll try. No promises, though."

Fred and George smiled down at me, then the boys left.

"You looks tons better," Katie said to me. "Didn't you sleep at all on break?"

"Not really," I confided.

"Are you still sleeping in the basement?" Angelina asked, concern in her voice.

I nodded. "Really, it could be worse though. I cold be upstairs with them all day. I think that would kill me."

"Wait," Katie said. "Did they keep you down there all summer?"

I winced and nodded. "I did manage to sneak out a few times at night when they were all sleeping. Got myself some food and hung out at the park for a few hours."

"Did they not feed you?"

I looked away, out the window, and didn't reply.

"Alyx, that's bad! You can die in conditions like that!" Angelina said.

"I know," I replied. "But I'd rather starve to death in that dungeon that spend a minute with them. They think I they deprive me of food and sunlight it will somehow make me change my mind about them."

"Well it certainly worked on Andrew," Katie said, clearly aggravated.

"No, Andrew didn't need the persuading. He's naturally like them."

"I don't know how you've turned out like you have, Ally," Katie said. "You and Andrew are like day and night. Good and evil. Complete opposites."

"I guess I'm more like Uncle Sirius was when he was a kid."

"Yeah, just don't end up like him now, kay? Don't go killing your friends and ending up in Azkaban."

I smiled. "I'll try."

"Have you told anyone about how they treat you?"

"No," I said sharply. "I don't want to give them the satisfaction of knowing they're getting to me. And I certainly don't need anyone looking at me like THAT," I said pointedly.

"Like what?"

"Like you pity me. Like I'm some abused, neglected, wounded animal."

"Ally...you ARE abused and neglected..." Katie said quietly. "You need to do something about it. At least tell the boys. They'd do anything for you. Maybe they can get you out."

"That's the last thing I want, is for them worrying and fussing over me. They already do enough for me, just seeing me for me and not my bloodline. They make me feel human. If they knew..."

"Ally, either you tell them or we will," Angelina said. "This isn't right. You don't deserve to be treated this way."

"Actually, you should really talk to McGonagall," Katie said.

"No," I said again.

"Then we will. Ally, we are not just going to sit by while our best friend is neglected. I'm not even going to apologize. You can be mad at us if you want, but at the end of the day, just know that we're doing this because we love you."

I was speechless. My eyes welled up with tears, and I nodded, knowing they were right and touched that they cared so much. They sat on either side of me and hugged me, and I broke down, crying into their shoulders.


End file.
